There is also a SPEAR III variant without a motor, SPEAR Glide, which as far as I’m aware is essentially a direct equivalent to GBU-53. Unpowered glide bomb with MMw radar and IR seekers, in the 250lb weight class.
Hopefully this will be acquired over GBU-53 once it is ready for mass production.
I mean you’d think that trying to touch a hot stove for the third time would teach the MoD a lesson about the F-35 and non US ordnance.
It’s just a bad idea, since it like all others are gong to see constant overruns and delays.
At least for now TR3 airframes are at least flying, so the hardware isn’t the impediment it was to testing. Far too much got pushed to the right due to delays with Block 4.
Well we got some more prop bois.
Curious if anyone can tell me an expectation compared to brigand, whirlwind and Hornet which I assume its going to be kind of similar to. I do enjoy those planes the few times I venture into prop fighters.
Also asked elsewhere if it will get an air defense fighter spawn (given role and direct comparison to the Whirlwind which does?) but who knows with gaijin lol.
edit:
Looks like we get air spawn for it too for now.
Good to see they’re adding two Welkins as well, even if one is a premium
You spoke too soon. It’s been canned for now
Maybe two props for Britain in one update was too generous
SPEAR Glide seems to be a new IIR seeker with GPS/INS no sign it has any mmW capabilities (you can tell by looking at it), SPEAR 3 is mmW/SAL/GPS/INS which is essentially Brimstone with GPS, wings and a jet engine.
They only really seem to share a body/wing design, maybe a warhead?
Got to ask is there any chance the AJAX will get it’s optics fixed?
It’s bad enough having a poor 40mm that struggles with everything but not being able to zoon in to at least try and hit weak spots makes it near unplayable.
Maybe someone can explain to me why the PUMAs gun kills faster seems to penetrate the same
Or the BMP2M 30mm with Darts just outclasses the AJAX?
The BMP-2M has almost three times the fire rate, that’s why it’s always superior to anything really in terms of firepower.
The Puma just has a better sight and also the people that still play it are quite skilled in it so they know where to shoot.
I can only share what i’ve learned from playing Puma, against T-72/T-90 (including BMPT) shooting here will net you a kill very fast, the carousel is low on these tanks and touching ammo is common
If the enemy is slightly angled you can sneak rounds in trough that same plate but it’ll take more rounds to kill
The same also applies to the T-80 and derivatives but way harder to kill, the carousel is very high for some reason on them.
If you have them disabled at long range you can also sneak rounds in trough here
I feel rounds are penetrating but they just don’t seem to kill the crew I had a Leopard 2A4 crippled but the rounds would not kill the rounds just seem to lack effect after they penetrate I used a lot of rounds and the end result was a team mate cleaned him up.
The 40mm post pen effect is not as strong as the 30mm darts on the Boxer and that is just wrong.
Yeah, different optic setup (I hate tanks with fixed zooms) and spall liners would make me quite happy with the Ajax I think. Sure there are way better autocanon tanks at and around that BR, but I think it still beats out nothing and works quite well overall.
Crazy how this is going to be the main anti ship capability of the Queen Elizabeths for probably the better half of a decade or more. But it’s also interesting because how would a modern ship’s air defense deal with a swarm of those things with their tiny RCS and thermal signature, but also would they even do enough damage to sink a large vessel?
Sink… 2 or 3 hitting the same spot in the hull… maybe, depending on the ship?
But just nailing critical spots of the super structure like the bridge, radar, CWIS, etc. Would take it out of action and they should have the ability to target with that kind of accuracy I reckon
It’s not, the main Anti-shipping weapon is Wildcats with Sea-Venom aShm or aShms from the escort destroyers/frigates (Harpoon/NSM). At least until FC/ASW is finished in the mid 2030s.
I was talking about QE’s anti ship ability specifically, which afaik is popularly reported as f-35 with SPEAR 3. Also Wildcats with Sea-venom? isn’t that like 20 km of range? good luck getting a helo that close to anything that isn’t an unarmed ship
Its fine. The RAF can simply protect the fleet and the Typhoon can carry Matre-ER (if Britain buys any) so the Royal Navy doesnt need to worry about that kind of thing. What are the chances of there being a conflict somewhere where the RAF cant provide protection for the fleet :P
That doesnt sound right. Do you perhaps have a world map with some circles drawn on it to demonstrate this? Im sure you will remember to put Australia in the correct location.
Because Gaijin’s not faithfully modeling it, and has erroneously omitted critical structural elements that control the rammer from the module.
Pretty sure the F-35B can still haul JSM’s externally, sure it’s not optimal but its still a capability
The UK doesn’t have any plans on procuring the JSM afaik
Carriers need screening ships the Type 45s are armed with CAMM-ER and Aster missiles for defensive purposes and for offensive the NSM.
F-35 can also intercept naval strike missiles with it’s Radar and payload options.
Its powered that alone means it has much wider capability range, but america doesnt really need that, they have more specialized weapons for everything the spear 3 can do, and for a low cost cruise missile the payload is a bit small and the seeker a bit overkill.
